What's a "Poor Person" Food That You Still Eat?

a reply to: Atsbhct

Another staple when we just got married and were poor was a canned chili like hormel tobasco mixed with rice. cheap and tasty too.

a reply to: Athetos

Omggg. Fried toast.

originally posted by: Atsbhct
a reply to: AccessDenied

God, I loved fried balogna as a kid. Super crispy like poor mans bacon. It's actually borderline spendy for the "good" balogna here now. You can only buy a big ...tube? Roll? Lol. of it and it's about $40.00.

Yep, you mean the Sunrise brand or Larsen brand. I only buy them when on sale for a good price. I slice it up and freeze it.

originally posted by: chris_stibrany
a reply to: Atsbhct

Another staple when we just got married and were poor was a canned chili like hormel tobasco mixed with rice. cheap and tasty too.

I love chili and rice.

a reply to: AccessDenied

Do you just put wax/parchment paper between the slices? I didn't think of that.

originally posted by: Atsbhct
a reply to: putnam6

My husband loves Cream of Wheat. Me, I grew up on Shredded Wheat, or, ugh, still have nightmares about these, giant bags of "Puffed Wheat", which was basically like eating a bowl of packing peanuts.

Haha Shredded Wheat is still a favorite 2 Biscuits some blueberries or strawberries a little honey.

Yea cereal was big in my kitchen as a young adult it was cheap and easy.

a reply to: putnam6

Did you put hot water on it, or leave it crispy? I liked it with hot water, then drained, with milk and brown sugar.

a reply to: Tarzan the apeman.
Funnily enough I have just made chicken, potato and pea soup, sans noodle, today!
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: Akaspeedy
Corned bean hash is what us Brits called that!
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: Sookiechacha

Spam Musubi really makes me miss Maui.

Ahh... and some laulau and opihi.
But opihi isn't very cheap.

Our go to was Ham and beans, corn bread and fried potatoes.
Also Mackerel patties with mac n cheese.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
Home made cream of corn soup.

My worst nightmare was coming home from school and realizing my mother was making corn chowder. (She couldn't cook though. Lol.)

originally posted by: angelchemuel
a reply to: Akaspeedy
Corned bean hash is what us Brits called that!
Rainbows
Jane

I missed this comment, but corned beef hash here is onions, green peppers if you're fancy, hashbrown potatoes, and a tin of corned beef all fried up until crispy, maybe with eggs on top!

I still love making Hot Hamburg Sandwiches.

Browned hamburger, gravy, corn or carrots and peas, onions, piled on 1st slice of bread then also piled on second slice.

Eat with fork.

Maybe not so cheap nowadays.

a reply to: Atsbhct
Ahhh! You are making me hungry!
Also, your post made me think of bubble 'n' squeak!
Oh, nom. nom!
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: Atsbhct

Yeah I’ve made some awful batches of it.
But I got it down to a science now

a reply to: keukendeur

Sounds like Cream of Wheat!

creamofwheat.com...

originally posted by: MykeNukem
I still love making Hot Hamburg Sandwiches.

Browned hamburger, gravy, corn or carrots and peas, onions, piled on 1st slice of bread then also piled on second slice.

Eat with fork.

Maybe not so cheap nowadays.

This is my fathers favourite meal!

a reply to: angelchemuel

Mmmm. Anything with fried potatoes, count me in.

a reply to: Macenroe82

I'm glad you figured it out. Any soup with a thick top skin that isn't actually melted cheese
...that's a no for me. 😂

originally posted by: Atsbhct
What cheap/penny-pinching foods do you still find yourself eating even though you aren't poor anymore? Or even if you're not the most secure financially, what are your cheap comfort foods?

I'm talking like, you grew up poor and this is something your parents or caregivers made on a shoestring kind of dishes.

Or you had/have grandparents from the depression era who regularly made dishes out of whatever was on hand just out of, not really habit, but because they were drilled to not waste anything. Ever.

Mine is hamburger gravy on mashed potatoes with a side of vegetables (when I was a kid it would have been that 5 veggie frozen blend with lima beans, boiled TO OBLIVION). I just can't quit it even though I can afford to make whatever grocery list I really feel like (I'm super cheap though.), and I can cook. A few times a year I make it and think about when my parents would make this on the day before payday because it was an entire meal that cost $3.00 in 80's/90's money with tons of leftovers, and I would hate it. My parents were terrible cooks. They still are.

It costs about $10.00 all in to make now.

So what "poor people"/hard scrabble food do you love? What do you think it cost when you or your family were on hard times vs. now?

My grandparents also ate some great poor people food that isn't really poor people food anymore, like homemade headcheese, which is now a delicacy here and hard to come by; and my grandfather loved "Pap", which was old bread torn up in a bowl with cream and sugar or honey, the original cereal I guess! To no ones surprise, he also suffered from rickets as a child in the 20's.

Ooohh, and my Gram loved beef tongue sandwiches on homemade white bread with mustard from a jar that she kept in a cupboard. With pickled "chow chow", which means different things everywhere, but here it's sweet pickled green tomatoes.

To me it's not about being poor, it's all about prepping . I found a recipe for black beans and rice......simple and no fresh foods needed.....beans , white rice, powdered onions and garlic, chicken broth, salt and pepper, cumin and olive oil or cooking oil.....all ingredients could be stored for years !